Wednesday 11 November 2009

Organic Soap



This little lot are 97.3% organic!

When I did my calculation, I thought I was supposed to include each and every ingredient to determine the organic percentage of my soap...
NOT THE CASE.

I'm not silly. I know that a combination of sodium hydroxide & water is mixed with fats & oils to create a chemical reaction known as saponification....
What I didn't realise is that when doing my organic content calculation I do not have to include the water or the sodium hydroxide weights...
So...after thinking and believing my organic range to be just 65% organic, I came to the realisation (after re-calculating) that they are in fact 97.3%! YES!

For those who don't quite get it...here's the thing.
Sodium Hydroxide and water are mixed together (and referred to as lye) and poured into fats and oils to make what we call 'soap'.
As soon as you pour your lye solution into the fats & oils, a process called 'saponification' starts to take place. The mix is now on its way to becoming soap.
After the soap has rested in its mold for 24 hours, and has cured (for up to 6 weeks), the sodium hydroxide and 99% of the water has evaporated, which means these ingredients are no longer components of the finished batch.(the water is latent).
So...what you're left with are your hard, cured bars of wonderful, skin-loving soap.
So....basically, the lye mix is only used to make the soap...the soap does not contain it, so it is not necessary to include the sodium hydroxide or the water content when doing an organic calculation.
Easy peasy!

Hope that makes sense to you all.

After contacting the Soil Association, this is the info they gave to me so it's only right and proper that I pass it on.

Now then...the next step is to get my soaps certified as organic.
No problem...well.....just a little cash flow issue.
It costs £250 + VAT to get them assessed.
Then...a futher £580 per year to keep the certification.

More sales needed!

I will endeavour to get this sorted, but in the meantime....I'M SO HAPPY!

13 comments:

Gary's third pottery blog said...

that's a ton of cash to get certified, but they are gorgeous little soaps aren't they? :)
btw, ran out of memory, this is my latest blog, thanks!

FuturePrimitive Soap Co. said...

hiya gary.
i know you've moved...matt's got you on his.
it is v. expensive to get certified. it will be worth it once i start shifting a few more!
x

Incognito said...

I've got my name on a few of your soaps at Dan Finnegan's studio. They are so beautiful to look at and the aromas are wonderful. They look good enough to eat. Hoping to pick mine up this week.

FuturePrimitive Soap Co. said...

Hello incog...so glad you like 'em and glad you like the scents...which ones are you choosing?

Michelle said...

Your organic soaps are beautiful, I love the texture on top :)

MarĂ­a said...

Son una maravilla de jabones, tienen una pinta excelente.

Alexandra said...

Those organic soaps look fantastic! Have a great week xx

Anna M. Branner said...

Incognito better hurry! Your soaps are going fast at LibertyTown. I bought 4 today myself!

FuturePrimitive Soap Co. said...

hi anna! thanks so much for your comment and for buying my soap there across the pond. so cool...
and thanks all for stopping by x

Neil said...

You have beautifully pictured soap and a very informative blog. Thanks very much.

Anne-Marie said...

Your soap looks incredible - and the organic certification will be sweet when you do get it.

this wheel's on fire said...

glad you love prince too :)

Hildie said...

I've so enjoyed reading your blog. Your soaps are gorgeous. I'm a begininng soaper and so far I'm starting to think it's just not my gift. But it's definitely yours!